I haven’t really been to the United Kingdom or England or whatever you’d like to call it. I spent less than a week in London, the country’s most populous city and de facto capital. That doesn’t offer much insight into the English mentality. Come to think of it, five days doesn’t allow me to know much about London itself.

I am on year five living in Philadelphia. I started out in a secluded dormitory for the city’s largest university, before renting out the ground floor of a fine rowhome in the Lower Tioga neighborhood.

Sean enjoying a sausage and fries at Curry 36, a food stall in Berlin, Germany.

I try to avoid American foods when traveling. So I can focus on local delicacies; so I can return home and appreciate it all as I stuff my food bag.

But I had to change plans for one of my favorite American foods: french fries. A handful of European cities have stalls that lay claim to being among the best.

We started the pursuit in Amsterdam and Brussels. Both cities have a rich tradition in French fried potatoes, seriously.

In Amsterdam, Mannekin Pis - like the statue in Brussels, confusingly enough - claims the best fries in Holland - and beyond if you ask the right person.

Belgians say they developed the technique though. We were sent on a long walk south for the best fries in Brussels. They were good - the sausage burgers weren’t - but not worth world renown (video forthcoming).

The fixed price menu of Slingerbulten in Stockholm, Sweden on Nov. 3, 2008.

On Monday, Sean and I took on the urban Swedish tradition of dagens rätt, a fixed price menu for lunch, at Slingerbulten in Stockholm.

Fish, potatoes and cabbage, as per tradition, but even more so is the act of a cheap(er) meal for working people in a business district. We paid 80 Swedish krona ($10.5 USD). In a city as expensive as Stockholm, that is divine.

The bed on which I slept while couchsurfing in Budapest, Hungary on Oct. 20, 2008.

Turns out many of you have been interested in where we slept at nights. So we’ll do you one better. Here is a list of everywhere we stayed, our experiences and any other advice we have about this end of a tour like this.

I am dodgy. I can accept it. So, I didn't go into this London bar on Brick Lane Oct. 3, 2008.

I am hot tempered.

I cringe over costs. Accept them. You are in an unfamiliar place. You will be short 30 pence for a bus ride home in London and get stuck putting 3 pounds on your Oyster card, with an additional $3 charge for using your credit card abroad.

What do you want out of your travel? How do you want to represent yourself and your country. Traveling will make you learn plenty about yourself, which is good because it is rarely as important as when you’re seeing the world.